Never Been Better
by Kaorei
Summary: Hiro had been asking, "Hi, Tadashi. How are you today?" every time he went to visit Tadashi at the hospital. His question was always left unheard and unanswered, until now. He finally had his big brother back. Sequel to "How Are You Today?". Alive!Tadashi.


_**Disclaimer: I do not own Big Hero 6. It belongs to Disney and Marvel.**_

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><p><span><strong>N<strong>ever **B**een **B**etter

_The first thing Tadashi saw when he woke up was his little brother, Hiro._

_And he couldn't be happier because that was what he had been hoping for._

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><p>"Hi, Tadashi. How are you today?"<p>

That was the first thing he heard when he woke up.

_Hiro…?_

Tadashi opened his eyes. He took a quick look around the place. The room was moderately small and the walls were pure white. There was but one window, and the setting sun's rays seeped right through it. He heard the beeping on the machine on his left side, and just with that, he presumed he was at a hospital.

He wondered why he was there, but when he felt a sharp pain on his left side, he looked down to find his left arm and torso all bandaged up. A memory suddenly flashed through his mind. He suddenly remembered being trapped in a burning building after running it to find Professor Callaghan. He remembered the smoke and how much it burned his lungs, and he remembered the smell of his own burning flesh as it came in contact with the fire. But after that, it was all a blank.

How long had he been out for? What happened after he collapsed? Did Professor Callaghan survive?

Tadashi had so many questions to ask, but now was not the time. He had probably been asleep for so long; everyone must have been terribly worried.

Rather than asking questions to the person who was probably the most worried, he figured he should answer Hiro's question first.

He turned to his right to find his little brother staring at him with a shocked expression on his face. Tadashi was shocked himself. He thought he imagined hearing Hiro's voice. But there he was, just within reach. He saw tears forming in Hiro's eyes, and from this, he was guessing he had been out for so long that Hiro was starting to believe he would never wake up. He did not blame him though; they only had each other left.

So, Tadashi pulled on his famous crooked smile, looked into his little brother's eyes, and answered, "Never been better."

Those words were enough to make the younger Hamada burst into tears. Hiro threw himself on Tadashi and hugged him tightly, fearing that if he were to let go, he would lose him again. He cried and cried, and Tadashi just smiled while patting his head reassuringly.

Through sobs, Hiro said, "I-I came by every single day, a-asking you the same question over and over. You n-never answered. I was starting to think you were never g-gonna wake up…"

"Hey, come, on, you know me better than that. It'll take a lot more than just fire to get rid of me. You're stuck with me for a little longer," Tadashi joked. "I'm immortal."

Hiro laughed with tears still streaming down his face. He could not wait to tell everyone the news. But most of all, he could not wait to see their reactions after the five-week long wait.

Tadashi Hamada had been released from the hospital five days later, and over those past five days, everyone came by to see him.

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><p><span><strong>Day 01<strong>

Hiro did not tell anyone about Tadashi's awakening. Both siblings wanted it to be a surprise.

The first person whose reaction they were going to witness was Aunt Cass. She told Hiro the night before that she was going to close the café early in order to go visit Tadashi. What perfect timing, he thought. Though he admits it would have been a lot more fun if he were to just come home with Tadashi without telling her beforehand.

Hiro and his aunt entered the hospital room to find Tadashi on his bed like always. Hiro took his usual spot and Cass automatically walked up to Tadashi to give him a kiss on the forehead.

"Oh man. Aunt Cass, how many times have you done that while I was asleep? My forehead must be covered in lipstick."

Unexpectedly, she screamed.

This action made a handful of doctors and nurses rush into the room. Laughing, Tadashi waved them off. When the door closed, the two brothers high-fived.

"Hiro, you knew about this?!" she screeched.

"Sorry Aunt Cass," the boy apologized, laughing.

"And how long have you been awake?!" She pointed a finger at the oldest Hamada.

"We love you," was all he said.

Aunt Cass pulled on their ears for not giving her a full, proper answer.

"WHAT WERE YOU TWO BONEHEADS THINKING?!" she screeched, pinching their ears tightly. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!" She ignored their cries of pain. "Do you have any idea… how much… I… how much I…" Her hold on their ears softened, and the boys immediately felt bad when she fell to her knees and wept, grabbing hold of Tadashi's hand.

Hiro knelt down next to her and held her while she cried, while Tadashi tightened his grip on her hand, assuring her that he was indeed there.

She cried the whole visit.

Before she and Hiro left, she planted a kiss on her older nephew's forehead.

She did not have any material things to give him. So, instead of dropping off an item on his bedside table like everyone else, Aunt Cass left her mark by tainting Tadashi's forehead with her pink lipstick.

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><p><span><strong>Day 02<strong>

The boys came by to visit the next day. Wasabi entered the room looking down, not wanting to see the sad scene of Hiro waiting for Tadashi to wake up. Fred, too, dreaded witnessing it. When the two looked up, they gasped when they saw no one on the bed and next to it, a crying Hiro Hamada.

"Hiro? What's wrong?" Wasabi asked, rushing to the boy's side. Hiro pointed over at the empty bed, shaking and choking back sobs.

"…Where's Tadashi?" Fred asked.

"He's gone..."

Wasabi and Fred's eyes widened.

_No…_

They finally got him back. They waited for five weeks. They visited for five weeks. They cried for days.

And this was what they got in the end?

Wasabi lost it. He completely lost it. He fell to his knees and began sobbing hysterically. He refused to accept the fact that Tadashi Hamada was truly gone. Hiro visited every single day with high hopes that his brother would wake up, but this… this was unfair.

Fred just stared straight ahead in complete shock. This was not happening. The world suddenly felt dark and empty. This was it; this was reality. He lost his best friend. It was the equivalent of Captain America losing Bucky, or Spiderman losing Harry Osborn. He hated the feeling.

"Oh yeah, Hiro, what happened after-"

Tadashi's sentence was cut short when he entered the room to find two of his best friends having some sort of mental breakdown.

"-I passed out," he raised an eyebrow. "Um… did I miss something?"

Fred's eyes widened, "…Tadashi?"

"Yeah?"

"You're… you're alive?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Wasabi turned to Hiro and grabbed his collar. "I THOUGHT YOU SAID HE'S GONE?!"

"Yeah… to the bathroom," Hiro laughed.

Needless to say, Hiro got yelled at by the three older boys, but he liked to think that it was all worth it.

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><p><span><strong>Day 03<strong>

By the sound of heels clicking against the floor and the popping of what Hiro assumed was bubble gum, Honey Lemon and GoGo were going to be the next ones to find out about Tadashi. No pranks on these two, Tadashi had told him. They were both very sensitive. Honey would literally cry for three hours straight and GoGo would throw them both off the San Fransokyo bridge.

Tadashi knew Fred was never the best at keeping secrets, so he assumed that the blond had told the girls already anyway.

"Hi, Hiro. Has he woken up… yet…" GoGo trailed off. Her mouth flew right open, and her gum fell out. Noticing her friend's unusual attitude, Honey followed GoGo gaze to see what was so shocking. When her eyes landed on the boy sitting on the bed, smiling warmly at them, her mouth flew open as well.

"Yes I have," he answered.

Although it was completely out of character for her, GoGo sped up to him and hugged him tightly, burying her face in his chest. She lasted five weeks without crying, but all the pain she kept bottled up inside had to come out eventually. She sobbed into his chest, and Tadashi swore that this was the first time he ever heard her cry.

Honey Lemon ran up to the two and joined the hug. Tears cascaded down her face endlessly. She cried as much as she did at his funeral, but this time, she was crying of happiness. From now on, she would be looking through the pictures they took together while smiling and no longer while sobbing.

"I thought Fred was lying," she sniffed.

Hiro was starting to feel a little left out, so he awkwardly joined the hug, smiling.

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><p><span><strong>Day 04<strong>

"Tadashi, you are alive."

"Hi, Baymax. It's really nice seeing you again."

Tadashi smiled up at his creation, who just stared blankly at him. At times like this, he wished he had given his marshmallow-looking robot a smile. Baymax was truly limited when it came to expressing emotions.

"Your neurotransmitter levels indicate that you are happy. Are you happy to see me?"

Tadashi was taken aback. Who taught him how to tell jokes?

Oh, right.

"Hiro," he said, turning away from the robot to face his younger sibling. "Really?" He ruffled his hair.

"I _may_ have played with his coding a little and taught him a couple of new things. Sorry, I couldn't help it," he grinned, scratching the back of his head.

"…Because I am happy to see you, Tadashi."

Upon hearing this, Tadashi's eyes widened. He turned to face Baymax, and although the phrase had been said in a robotic, monotonous voice, he could almost hear the sincerity and happiness in it.

Tadashi got up from his bed and gave Baymax a hug.

"I'm happy to see you, too, buddy. I really, really am."

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><p><span><strong>Day 05<strong>

And on the fifth day, it was just Hiro and Tadashi.

They spent all three hours talking nonstop. Hiro repeated everything he told Tadashi while he was unconscious.

"Remember when you said that Baymax was going to help a lot of people? That's what he's doing now!" Hiro exclaimed. "He stopped a runaway train and ended saving a handful of people a few weeks ago. It was really awesome!"

"Really?" Tadashi asked with the brightest smile. He felt so happy hearing about all the things his creation had done for the good of everyone. "I'm so glad his chip slot hasn't been manipulated. Without it, he just wouldn't be Baymax, you know? He was created to help people, and not to destroy. Thanks for making sure of that, Hiro."

Hiro felt his heart drop.

"Actually, Tadashi… His slot _has_ been manipulated. Once," Hiro said in a hushed voice.

His brother's eyes widened. "By who?" Hiro looked down. "Hiro, don't tell me you…"

"I'm sorry," he said. "But I have a reason why I did that."

Hiro then began to tell Tadashi about everything that happened after his 'death'. He told him about how he and the rest of the group were known as a superhero group called the "Big Hero 6". He told him that they all formed the group to capture Yokai, who turned out to be Callaghan, because he stole his microbots. He then told him the reason why he manipulated Baymax's chip slot was because Callaghan mocked Tadashi's death, and he did not want Callaghan to get away with what he had said.

Tadashi listened intently, not making a single comment throughout Hiro's whole explanation. By the end of his story, Hiro was expecting to get whacked, but he instead received a pat on the head.

"You really did miss me, didn't you?" Tadashi laughed.

They hugged.

Moments later, their little moment was interrupted when the door flew open, and a doctor walked into the room. He had on a huge smile on his face, excited to tell them the good news.

"Tadashi Hamada, you are to be released this evening."

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><p>Hiro can't even begin to explain the happiness and the relief that washed over him when he received a call from the hospital telling him that Tadashi was alive.<p>

But no words can ever be able to describe how Hiro felt when he woke up the next day to find his big brother, the one he thought he lost forever, lying on the once empty bed across from his own. The older Hamada must have heard him shuffling in bed, and therefore assuming that he was awake, Tadashi asked…

"Hi, Hiro. How are you today?"

_Tadashi._

He really was there.

This was no dream.

With the biggest smile on his face, Hiro got up, ran to Tadashi's bed and threw himself on top of him. He felt fresh, new tears welling up in his eyes, and he laughed and cried of happiness while hugging his brother, who kept yelling for him to let go.

So, how _was_ Hiro exactly?

"Never been better."

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><p><strong>AN****:** Sequel to "How Are You Today?" finally done! :D I made this a separate oneshot rather than adding a second chapter because many liked how the first one ended, too.

I really hope you guys liked it! Please review! :)


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